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SC issues another contempt
notice to Balli
Dadri Kisan Rally: V.P. Singh, Raj Babbar held
Land compensation cheques dishonoured
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Two sweepers die while
cleaning drainage
SC reserves judgement on construction in Vasant Kunj Ridge
Court terms insurance clause on theft illegal, arbitrary
Mukesh Sharma HPCC member
Teachers’ delegation returns home after visit to Australia
Campaign begins to register voters at DU
Metro engineer crushed to death
NDMC members take oath
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SC issues another contempt
notice to Balli
New Delhi, August 17 Police have registered four FIRs against Balli after an earlier contempt notice against him by the court, accusing him of tampering with the seals on March 29 in four premises in Raja Garden area. A Bench of Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal, Mr Justice C K Thakker and Mr Justice P K Balakrishnan also sought details from the MCD why it had differentiated in taking action against a Superintending Engineer and an Assistant Engineer for not following the order of sealing earlier. The court said it was strange that the Assistant Engineer had been put under suspension, while the Superintending Engineer was allowed to continue in service while the material against both of them was the same. Was the MCD making a distinction between senior officers and junior officers, it asked the Corporation’s counsel. Balli, who was present in the court in view of the earlier notice, took a defiant stand and said “whatever I have done, I have done as public servant. It was my duty as elected representative of public as what was being done (sealing) was not correct.” Taking serious view of his submission, the Bench said, “if you think that public has elected you to violate the court orders, we will take care of it. You will be given opportunity to file the reply.” The court also sought clear picture from the Union Government and Delhi Development Authority directly functioning under its control about notification of zonal plans for each of the 15 MCD zones, while the Centre moved an application through Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanim, seeking six months time for completing the process. The court was not happy with lack of coordination between the Union Urban Development Ministry, DDA and MCD on the issue of zonal development plans, observing that “It is the basic problem of Delhi that one wing of the government does not know what the other was doing.” The strong observation of the court came when it noticed contrary statements on status of finalisation of the zonal plan about certain zones. Subramanim said out of 15 zones, notification had been issued in respect of six, it was almost complete for five zones. But the conflict was noticed about the remaining four between DDA and Urban Development Ministry’s statements. |
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Dadri Kisan Rally: V.P. Singh, Raj Babbar held
Ghaziabad/Greater Noida, August 17 DIG police Meerut range M.P. Singh had put the number of the detainees at over a 1,000 rallyists about 2 pm. The police and security arrangements were so elaborate that the whole Dadri area and roads leading to it appeared to be converted into an army cantonment. Farmers seemed to be quite enthusiastic throughout the day. At Bejore Khurd village, slogans like “V.P. Singh Zindabad”, “Kisan Unity Zindabad” “Jo Ham se takrayega choor choor ho jai ga”, etc were shouted. Slogans against the Samajwadi government in UP and the Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav were also raised by a section of the crowd. Mr V.P. Singh and other leaders had immediately sat on a dharna at UP Gate where they were prevented from going further. Supporters of Raj Babbar had clashed with the policemen at a number of places. Former Prime Minister V.P. Singh said if it was justified to acquire farmers’ land for development, the government should also acquire steel from Tata Steel, cement from cement manufacturers, bricks, wood etc. as these are also needed for development. “It is a crime to acquire farmers’ land and deny him the suitable price. Why single him out for not exercising his right to sell his land at a price he would like to charge. The farmer is being pressurized to part with his land for a pittance while everybody else has the right to charge the price he wants for his product. The Mulayam Singh government is guilty as it is protecting the capitalists,” he said. Left leader A. B. Bardhan criticized the UP government for preventing people to attend a meeting of the farmers. “It is their fundamental rights to attend a rally,” he said. Mr V.P. Singh said the UP government could not muffle the voice of the farmers and that it was just the beginning of the struggle which will continue. The venue of the next farmers’ rally will be in New Delhi in September, he said. It may be recalled that Mulayam Singh, Raj Babbar and others were prevented on July 8 by the UP government to proceed to Dadri for ploughing a field in the land doled out to Reliance Energy Company for putting up a power project. The state government had taken shelter behind an Allahabad High Court order issued two days earlier that the property of Reliance Energy company be protected at Dadri. A large number of commuters who were stranded on the way due to blocked roads also had turned against the Mulayam government. They were wayfarers not aligned to any political ideology. Lately, the Congress cadres were also seen to be supporting this agitation as wife of UP Congress chief Mrs Khurshid Alam Khan, an MP, was also detained along with her supporters during the day though she was not going to Dadri. |
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Land compensation cheques dishonoured
Greater Noida, August 17 The authorities later clarified that there was some shortcoming in the documents presented along with the dishonoured cheque. Over a dozen villages whose farmers have thus been denied payment include Ghori Wachhera, Jaitpur, Vaispur, Kasna, Dhara, Sakipur, etc. The land had been acquired by GNIDA sometime back, after which the authorities had released the compensation amounts to the treasury. For over a year the compensation process was hanging fire, it is learnt. Officials had been putting off the farmers with one excuse or the other. Two months ago, the Addl. DM had initiated the process of disbursement of compensation to farmers who were handed over their cheques. After the clearance by the registry, farmer’s cheques are cleared by the banks. While normal cheques are cleared in three days, the cheques of land compensation take about a week to encash. But this time weeks after the cheques were deposited in banks, the amounts were not transferred to the farmers’ bank accounts. It happened in case of dozens of farmers. The banks ultimately informed farmers that the needed cash has not been sent by the treasury. Two days ago a farmers’ delegation had met the Addl. District Magistrate with MLA Nawab Singh Nagar. The delegation was told that payment of some farmers had been stopped because there was some mistake. Had it been on the part of the farmers, the Greater Noida authority would have sent them all to jail straightaway. Since the shortcoming has occurred at official level, no action has been taken against the erring official. This had caused resentment among the farmers. As a result, the administration has rectified its mistake in the past two days. Farmers like Dharam Veer, Ram Veer, Brahm Singh said this administration’s lapse had caused them a great loss. The farmers had agreed to sell their land when the cheques were received, but when they bounced, naturally that agreement to sell had also collapsed. The administration was out to exploit them, the farmers alleged. |
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Two sweepers die while
cleaning drainage
Gurgaon, August 17 Jeewan Ram who was standing outside the main hole noticed that there was no movement of Ram Singh. Jeewan Ram also went inside to rescue him. But both of them failed to come out from the line and died on the spot due to some poisonous gases emanating from the sewerage line, informed the spokesperson. The bodies of the deceased who belonged to Rajasthan have been taken out from the line. Ms Wadhwa added that it was a major lapse on the part of the contractor, Sisram Luraru who allowed these sweepers to go near the main hole without taking required precautions. However, it is reported that the DLF management has decided to give compensation to the kin of the deceased. |
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SC reserves judgement on construction in Vasant Kunj Ridge
New Delhi, August 17 A public interest litigation (PIL) had challenged all types of construction in the Vasant Kunj Ridge on the ground that it would adversely affect the fragile ecology. The court, however, said that it would take up the cases of construction of certain buildings by Defence Ministry separately. A Bench comprising Arijit Pasayat and S H Kapadia said it would have to be seen whether the environment norms had been violated by the Defence Ministry projects also. The Ministry of Environment and Forests Ministry in its affidavit had said that the Defence Ministry was constructing three buildings in the area, which attracted the provisions of amended Environment Impact Assessment. Accommodation for married officers with 200 quarters, a complex with accommodation to 700 other ranks and their complex with 705 quarters for JCOs were the three major projects taken up by Defence Ministry in the area. The court had stayed the construction of five shopping malls in Vasant Kunj Ridge on May 1, involving an investment of Rs 1,290 crore. The shopping malls affected by the stay order are – the Rs 394-crore Ambi Mall (Ambience Developers Pvt Ltd), the Rs 250-crore Empario Mall (Regency Management Services Pvt Ltd), the
Rs 358-crore Promenade Mall (Beverly Park Maintenance Services Pvt Ltd), a Rs 90 crore-shopping mall by Jasmine Projects and a Rs 89-crore corporate office project by Maruti Udyog Ltd. |
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Court terms insurance clause on theft illegal, arbitrary
New Delhi, August 17 “The insurance companies (by adding their own words) cannot take away the benefit of insurance from the claimants in case of theft of the insured article, thus theft has to be taken as it is,” said the Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. The Commission Bench headed by Justice J D Kapoor and Member, Ms Rumnitta Mittal, termed the insurance clause “illegal, arbitrary and unenforceable” which says that only those incidents of theft, which are followed by “violence or forced entry” into the victims’ premises, would be covered under the policy. The order came on an appeal filed by the National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) against the order of a District Consumer Forum which had asked it to pay Rs 8,800 as compensation, including the claim amount, to one Jitender Kumar Garg whose insurance cover of his mobile handset, after the theft, was repudiated. Dismissing the appeal, the Commission added once the theft of an insured object was followed by “violence or forced entry” the offence no more remains the same and it becomes either ‘extortion’ or ‘robbery’. As per the complaint, filed by Mr. Garg, resident of Panchsheel Enclave, he bought an “anti-theft insurance policy” for his Nokia mobile handset. Later, after the theft of his handset, he approached the NICL seeking the payment of insurance amount. But, to his utter shock, the NICL, instead of paying the claim amount, repudiated the policy stating that the act of “theft” was not followed by “violence or forced entry” compelling Mr. Garg to approach the District forum for redressal. The forum allowed Mr. Garg’s complaint. Against this, the NICL appealed to the Commission, which, though scaled down the compensation by Rs 580, upheld the Forum’s verdict and cautioned the company not to add or delete into the legal definition of offences against which it sells insurance policies. “In our view, such a clause having any pre-condition or condition precedent to the word ‘theft’ is illegal, arbitrary, unenforceable being not in consonance with the definition of ‘theft’ provided by the law of the land, the IPC, as ‘theft’ lacks ingredients of force or violence and to cap it all, being against the very object of the insurance benefit clause,” the Commission, sai d. |
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Bomb scare at school
New Delhi, August 17 The search at the prestigious Naval Public School began at around 9:30 am after the school authorities informed the police that they had received “an anonymous threatening call”, a senior police official said. Anxious parents also rushed to the spot after the news about the bomb scare was flashed by television channels. However, no explosive substance was found during the two-hour search. The Police have launched an investigation to trace the caller. A series of false phone calls, most of them pranks by adolescents, in the last one month had triggered searches at the India Gate, AIIMS, Akshardham Temple, PVR Plaza, Gurdwara Sis Ganj, Red Fort and Satyam theatre. |
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Mukesh Sharma HPCC member
Gurgaon, August 17 Mr Sharma, who was president of Gurgaon district of the now merged Haryana Vikas Party in the Congress is a known face in local politics. In a letter to Mr Sharma, the working president of the HPCC, Dr Ram Prakash said that he has been co-opted as member of the HPCC as per the direction of the general secretary of All India Congress Committee (AICC) and in-charge of Haryana affairs, Mr Janardan Dwivedi. The panchayat of Silokhra, the native village of Mr Sharma, organised a public meeting and hailed the decision of the Congress to co-opt him in the HPCC. They thanked Mr Dwivedi and former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal and Central leadership of the party for it. |
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Teachers’ delegation returns home after visit to Australia
New Delhi, August 17 At a presentation-cum- reception hosted at the Australian High Commission, the participants shared their experiences and insights gained from the tour. They also announced their plans to organise workshops on teaching and assessment methodologies adopted by schools in Australia for fellow teachers. Professor John Webb, Counsellor, Education and Training, Australian High Commission, speaking on the occasion, said, “Teachers are the inspiration for our children, opening up new worlds of opportunities for them. The teachers who join thus exchange programme bring rich experiences to share with their students and fellow teachers, providing them knowledge beyond textbooks”. Ms Mohan Dar, Principal of Amity School, Noida, who was part of the exchange programme, said, “My visit to Australia brought home the similarities and differences of two diametrically opposite cultures. I was particularly impressed by the ‘socially just’ curriculum that acknowledges the disparate requirements of the regional environmental differences and has formulated strategic policies to have an integrated curriculum even at the senior school level”. The exchange programme in its eighth year now, involves over 200 Australian and Indian teachers. Under the programme, teachers from Australia visit India in January each year followed by a visit to Australia by Indian Teachers in the months of May-June. The participants bring back teaching material and resources to aid them to incorporate features of Australian teaching systems in their respective school curricula. |
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Campaign begins to register voters at DU
New Delhi, August 17 To drive home the importance of registering as voters, these students have converted an ice cream cart into a mobile dispenser, which will go around all the colleges in the north campus spreading the word. This decorated ice cream cart has been christened Vote-a-Mobile by some students, while others are calling it the Voter ID Cart. In a drive aimed at making students aware of their right to vote, the United Students’ members have organised students groups in various colleges of North and South campus, which will facilitate the entire process. “Our plan is to both educate and enthuse students who are not yet registered as voters to immediately do so on the spot,” said Aaditya Dar, a final year student of Kirorimal College and a core group member of United Students. Students only have to fill a Form-6 and give a proof of residence. Thereafter, these forms would be segregated according to constituency segments and deposited with the relevant authority under the State Election Commission. Recognising the effort and initiative of members of United Students, the Election Commission has written to principals of all colleges in Delhi asking them to educate students about their right to be registered as voters once they attain the age of |
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Metro engineer crushed to death
New Delhi, August 17 “Both were immediately rushed to the nearby GTB Hospital at Shahadara where one of them, Inder Mohan Srivastava (27), Section Engineer, was declared brought dead, while the other Purshottam Priyadarshi (22), Junior Engineer, was admitted with a fracture in his right arm,” said a senior officer of the Delhi Metro. “An inquiry committee comprising three senior officers of the Metro Rail of the rank of General Manager has been set up to probe into the incident. The Commissioner of the safety wing of the Metro Rail has been informed about the incident,” he said. |
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NDMC members take oath
New Delhi, August 17 Dr Kutty and Mr Rakesh have been nominated as member of the Council as per notification of the Government of India in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (c) of sub-section (1) of Section 4 of New Delhi Municipal Council Act, 1994. Dr Kutty is an IAS Officer of 1985 batch of AGNUT Cadre and has held several prestigious positions in many departments, including Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Mr Rakesh Kumar is from Indian Defence Accounts Service of 1990 batch and held prestigious position in the Ministry of Ocean Development and Cabinet Secretariat. The council consists of 10 members, including five officials and three MLAs. It is headed by a Chairman who is an IAS Officer of UT Cadre. |
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